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Tami Huntsman, 39, and her 17-year-old boyfriend, Gonzalo Curiel, will be put on trial in Monterey County because homicide detectives believe the children were abused for a long period of time in Salinas before they were slain. The couple was arrested Dec. 11 in Quincy, Calif., because a third victim was found nearly beaten to death in a locked vehicle there.

Curiel and Huntsman were booked into juvenile hall and jail with no bail. Curiel will be transferred from juvenile hall to the main jail when he turns 18 in February.

"Monterey (County) has five days to pick them up. I expect the defendants to return sooner rather than later," Plumas County District Attorney David Hollister said.

Transporting the accused killers required extra security because death threats were made against the couple, Hollister said.

"We are taking things seriously. There have been communications with my office, sheriff's office, and defense attorney indicating we should pay attention to what's going on. We want to get them safely to Monterey County so that justice can be served," Hollister said.

Huntsman and Curiel could be arraigned in a Salinas courtroom Friday to enter pleas.

Hollister agreed with Monterey County prosecutors that the case should be put on trial here.

In his motion submitted to a judge on Wednesday, Hollister wrote, "The defendant was transient to Plumas County, having been here less than two weeks. Specific acts giving rise to the crime of torture and felony child abuse, such as the breaking of bones, occurred in Monterey County. Many of the witnesses to the crimes reside in Monterey County."

The bodies of 3-year-old Delyha Tara and her 6-year-old brother, Shaun Tara, were found hidden in storage containers in a Redding, Calif. storage unit.

Family members told KSBW that Huntsman was the victims' father's cousin.

Investigators believe Delyha and Shaun were murdered on Nov. 27 in Salinas and their bodies were driven 300 miles north. Huntsman did not tell her landlord that she was moving out, and left most of her possessions behind.

Huntsman and Curiel were recorded by a surveillance camera checking into a Northern California Motel 6 on Nov. 27. Motel 6 employees said Huntsman was smiling and laughing while paying for two rooms, and they did not see any children with them.

Huntsman's mother, Joy Tara, said she mailed her a letter from a Plumas County jail reading, "The truth will come out."